Why are the lost , lost .
What a good question to ask . In over 2000 years of The Word being taught , preached about , televised , missioned , and spread by every virtual means known to man why then do we still have lost people in the world . When the automobile came into existence around the turn of the last century many disliked it but eventually fell in love with it . At a point in our history within 50 years we went from horse and buggy on dirt roads to cars on asphalt driveways stretching across America . In 50 years we as a nation embraced the car and now , unless you are in a large city like New York or other urban areas were public transportation is accessible and used , you can’t live without it . Try going to Walmart without a car , what are you going to carry your groceries or other purchases home with .
In one century we have become dependent on something we as a human have made . Horses have been around for as long as life has been on our world , so have oxen , donkeys , and other beast of burden and yet we were dependent on them but it is different . With an animal as our way of getting work done and a way to take us somewhere they were regarded with a sense of that they are a living creature created by God for us to use as help and to respect . Now I know many threw out history treated thier animals lower than dirt , as if were a slave to them but then again we have treated our brothers as slave to us also . The Egyptians enslaved the Jews , the Americans enslaved the native Americans at first and then they imported slaves from Africa .
So why would we think they would treat an animal any different than a human . By looking at some cars that people drive today it is still prevalent today , some are regarded with respect ( some even worshiped ) and others well lets just say if it were a horse it would need to be put out of it’s misery . So back to this dependence when we get a car many for the first few thousand miles treat it with such care . We baby it , we don’t mash down on the accelerator or hit the brakes to hard . We watch were we park when at the mall or grocery store . We will park far away so as others who fight for that spot closest to the doors won’t have a chance to bang the door .
We take such care of this contraption we as humans have developed and evolved . We have made them faster , brake better , have heaters and air conditioners , enough seating for a small baseball team , and more cup holders than people in the darn thing. We have created something to be worshiped catered to our egos and needs. We take this car and after about 6 months of paying the bill we are still in joy for we have something new and like a new pair of sneakers it is just starting to feel good . We still wash it but only maybe twice a month now instead of every week end . The new smell is still there but it is starting to get weaker .
Twelve months have past , You celebrate the cars birthday . You think how could I have lived with out this car but yet you drive by the dealership and see the NEW model . Hum , new lights and they look cooler than yours . Oh wait a different upholstery inside and in a color that you really wanted , but oh well you love your new car . You drive off thinking oh hey I need to change the oil on this car and get the tires rotated and don’t forget to get the yearly check up , more money .
Two years have past you are getting hesitant about when people ask what year car you have because now it’s 2 years old and the new for next year are out so it makes your car seem 3 years old now . You skip that oil change figuring “oh I’ll put some Mobile One in it at the next oil change ", which is next month . You also start to notice as your washing your car for this month that there are some door dings in the door , gee could have been from fighting for that first parking spot at Walmart when you just needed to get a couple of things several of those times. Oh on your way home you hit a pot hole and feel something not right so you get it set to go to the dealership the next day to have it looked at .
The next day . You get the call , you bent the rim ( yes those pretty racing looking wheels don’t hold up to pot holes very well but they sure are cool looking ) the tire has a knot on it which means broken belts in the tire , that means new tires . They also notice a few other minor things that will need attention soon but your ok , for now. You walk out with a lighter wallet , some new tires , and oil change , and a reminder to pay the car payment next week .
Three years have now past, you are washing the car for the second time this year , well it’s June and the dust is getting a little thick , and you get done . You bring out the wax and when done you notice a whole bunch of scratches on the car and several dints in the doors . You think to yourself how can this car have gotten so messed up . The mail comes as you go inside to wash up and it’s a reminder that you are late on your car payment that you took out for that new car 3 years ago and just to let you know you have 2 more years until it’s payed off. You go to Walmart ( I know I use Walmart a lot but you can get everything you need there ,it just takes forever to get out ) and you get some of that car polish that’s the color of your car to help hide all those scratches .
Four years have past , you still have that old clunker sitting outside the garage . You haven’t washed it this year ( it’s August ) you missed the last couple of oil changes , the brakes are fading , the upholstery has stains on it , one of the speakers is blown , it rattles as you take off . You sit there looking at it thinking as you look at the car payment “ should I trade it off and live with the difference added to a new car or did I get that Gap insurance and take it out to the country and mysteriously have it catch on fire ? Hummm”. This is the car that 4 years ago you were in love with , you would do anything to it and for it , it has let you down with a dead battery once or twice ( left the headlights on that one time ) but really it’s been there for you . It has done or tried to do everything you asked it to all it has asked for is a little attention once and a while. Humm sounding familiar ?
Four years and six months have now past , you can see that there are only a few more payments to be made on the car and it’s yours . You can do what ever you want with it , it is payed off and is all yours . no more payments , no more threatening phone calls from the collections department , no more warranty on the car , wait what is that sound . You take it to the dealer ,” You need a new transmission , oh and one of your cv joints is leaking you need to replace the axle , might as well do both while were in there .” they say . The salesman overhears you talking to the service department and talks to you about the car and what it would be worth on trade and with rebates on a new car it can pay off the old and you won’t be over on a new . It would be like buying the new car at sticker . You drive away that day in that shiny , new care smelling , newly redesigned , newly assembled , new set of payments for more than the other one was , NEW CAR.
This is a wonderful example of our walk in Christ a lot of times . We start out as a new Christian , some get new bibles and told they need to read it as much as they can even though it’s in a language that hasn’t been spoken in 400 years . We read this bible every night . We start to see and read wonderful things about our Lord Jesus . We read of His life on this world , we attend church . We start to believe in everything the pastor tells us . We want to take part in a ministry , to help out with the church , to just absorb everything we can about being a Christian and this new life we now have . We tithe every Sunday regardless if we have it in our checking account because we will find a way to pay for it . We do everything we are told to do because we are His servants and we want to .
After the first six months we have slaked off a little from our reading , well the preacher gives us some word and I can do fine just trusting in him to deliver a message . We have started to get to know some others and are now in a bible study ,we are growing , still aren’t reading on our own time but we will do fine .
One year has gone by , we have new friends , they seem so nice and we need to watch them because they have been Christians longer than us and they know more so we will just fallow their example . The bible has to be dusted when we open it now so as not to look unused . We open it in church or in the bible study but that’s about it . We start watching more TV and that show that we once thought was unchristian we now find an enlightened view of it as if we are strong we can handle this with no problem .
One year six months has now gone by , you get into an argument with the leader of the bible study you were in because they said something you didn’t agree with so you quit , you have started to cut back on your tithe you still do every Sunday but hey let’s face it you get hungry and you need more food or they now offer DSL in your area and wouldn’t those websites load so much quicker . You get the DSL .
Two years have pasted , your have skipped several Sunday offerings , " oh great the pastor it talking about the budget , how much this time ", you say to yourself . You haven’t really spoken to your new friends , you’ve been busy at work and things that need to be done around the house and that darn DSL keeps getting me to those site I know I shouldn’t be looking at , and they load so much more quickly now. You , out of guilt look to read your bible you can’t find it . It was here just last month were is that darn thing . You find it , behind the bed. You look up a verse or two and remind yourself you need to read it tomorrow also .
Three years and two months have now past you get a call that a loved one have past away . It devastates you , you start to think how can a god of love do this to me . How can He take this person from me , I thought once becoming a Christian everything was supposed to be better . That is what that preacher said , that’s what my so called new friends said . Three months later you loose your job , you throw your bible across the room , you have a vengeance against God for making your life so terrible . You go to your computer and start out of spite looking at those sites or going on those message boards. You stop attending church because everyone there is a hypocrite . You saw Joe at the bar last week , Sue tells that town gossip , Kelly slept with a deacon and left her husband , Matt went to jail for drug possession . That darn church is full of hypocrites and if that church is then all churches are and all Christians a fakes . You say to yourself. Someone overhears you complaining and talks to you about their religion , it’s not one that worships God , you like that , you get involved with them and have turned away from God.
You have gone in such a small amount of time from a new Christian to being someone totally turned away from God . You have contempt for other Christians and for Christianity itself . In Matthew 13:3-23 It tells us a story of this very thing . 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
10The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
11He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " ’You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
We are asked many times how can we reach those unchurched in this community . Well first we ourselves have to be strong in not only the Word of God but also have The Holy Spirit within us . This is the only way to fend off all the work that the oppressor has done . It is spiritual warfare that is to be fought . You can be as strong as Sampson or as big as Goliath but the physical has nothing to do with it . Satan doesn’t care about that , what he cares about it taking your heart , your heart for God and Christ . If he has that he has won . He will work on you and I and if you don’t have The Holy Spirit of God upon you , then you are going to be battling him in the physical and he will win .
When we go into these areas we have to be ready for the onslaught that will be taking place and when we have won we must stay with them , we can’t leave them to fend for themselves. A bible study isn’t going to cut it . You have just help deliver a child , a spiritual child unto this world , a new child of Christ and you are gonna say “ ok now that your saved here is a bible an oh we meet on Wednesday night come over if you can “. Would you after just delivering a child drive away from the hospital with a note for directions pinned to it’s clothes on how for it to find it’s way home ? If so we need to talk . Of course not , so why do we leave new Christians to walk on their own ? A class or weekly study is not enough you have to mentor this child , you are a brother or sister to this child you are to see to it that Satan will not be fighting this child by himself . But then neither will we be fighting just one spirit now. As it’s is written when one evil spirit is removed form someone or an area it goes out and seeks seven more powerful than it was and returns to reek havoc upon were it came from . So when we deliver someone or an area from the clutches of the deceiver we will be battling others when they return . That is why so many new Christians fail to go past just a couple of years . The old spirit that left them had returned with other more powerful than it was and the new Christian not being looked after and cared for was swamped all by themselves. So what do we do . Well we need to ask ourself are we in the business of filling pews in churches or are we in the business of saving not only a soul but developing that soul for Christ . Jesus will have control of everything , true , and He will work threw you if you let Him at the controls . What happens a lot of times is we take over and want to raise this child of Christ our own way , which usually is not what is best for them .We have faults and for a lot of Christians that still are children themselves it is like the blind leading the blind .
You wouldn’t want a toddler taking care of a newborn would you ? No , so who is to help this one ? We are , those who have set aside religion and it’s teachings and have fallowed the one true God . Those who aren’t easily swayed when the tides and storms come . Those who fallow what and were The Holy Spirit leads them . These are the followers who won’t just put a smile on and tell them everything is going to be great now that you are a Christian . Life still happens. So these that are like that what are they called , disciples . This is what we are to be . Religion has nothing to do with fallowing Christ , being a disciple is . When you tell someone about what God has done for you, you have just discipled them with your testimony . Everyone has a testimony , you are given one when you become saved with that you are to witness to others , others that may or may not know Christ . This is how you build the church , with real people with real life stories on how God has delivered them from this world . As you tell others and proclaim it in God’s name , you will get stronger , you will be more able to withstand the temptations that come , you may start reading the Word more , you may start hearing from God more or maybe for the first time . You will start to become a disciple of Christ . What did Peter and Paul do , they told everyone who would listen about what Jesus had done for them . They told about their testimony .
They didn’t go to the seminary to tell others what Jesus had done in their life . Many , over half from one poll I read , of the pastors today never set foot in a seminary . What do they do . They tell the Word that was given to them by God Himself. You can to . If God has delivered you from a sickness then praise Him , if God has delivered you from a porn addiction then praise Him , if God has risen a loved one from the brink of death then praise Him , if God has delivered you from a life of sin then praise Him , if God has given you a spouse that is with you till you are gray and old definitely praise him , if God is the one your call your God the praise Him . Praise Him for if it wasn’t for Him you would still be dead to this world , but your not , threw the blood of Jesus Christ you don’t have to be because with His blood shed for you , He bought you , He bought for you eternal life in a place were there is no sorrow , no pain , no sickness, no worries, no SIN, and no temptations of Sin . His eternal life that He has offered to you is free . totally free no payment book or anything .
All He asks for you to do to take this free offer is to read His Word , it’s the story of a Father and His Son who had such love for us that even though we sinned against Him, He offered up His only Son to die and shed His blood for us to be saved , to be His family . That’s it , that’s all , if you believe in your heart , not your mind threw teachings but threw your heart in Jesus being the one and only Son of God and the redeemer and Lord of your soul , you are saved . Read His Word , get one that is easy for to understand . What good are instructions if you can’t read or understand them . Share your testimony and praise Him every day ,in the name of God , Jesus . and The Holy Spirit , be blessed.
